Airship Nose and Tail Design
Airship frame with nose
So I have been working on finishing the rest of the frame design in Sketchup. I added a nose on to a previous design I had going when I was still thinking of using carbon fiber rods for the frame, so the main body rings were spaced 12″ apart.
I have since decided to build with balsa sticks, since they’re lighter. But, they’re also not as rigid. So I have added four more main rings to the main body so that they are all spaced 6″ apart to add some rigidity to the design.
The nose is 1′ 9″ long, with 3 more smaller rings (1′ 10 1/2″, 1′ 5 11/16″ and 8 1/16″) spaced 6″ apart, with a 3″ long tip. I still haven’t figured out which size balsa sticks each smaller ring will be made from just yet, but should be deciding that soon.
Airship frame with tail
The nose section turned out well, so I went on to add a tail to the frame. It will be 3′ long, with gradually smaller rings (1′ 11 3/8″, 1′ 9 9/16″, 1′ 6 7/16″, 1′ 2″ and 7 7/8″) spaced 6″ apart, with a 6″ long tip.
Next I will be adding 4 fins to the tail and posting that soon.
